Nowadays, many telecommunications service providers exist in each country.
In the case of wireless mobile communications, users can be very easily reached by the various service providers as this does not require to install wires, i.e. electrical cables or optical fibres, till the premises of the users.
Especially in the field of wireless communications, many service providers offer many different services to the users, which are characterised by diverse parameters, e.g., the services are offered at many different costs. Competition is therefore very high and is generally played in terms of service portfolio, service cost, service quality, service geographical coverage, roaming possibilities in foreign countries.
Nowadays, the competition key strategy is to acquire clients through SIM [Subscriber Identification Module] cards: once a user has a SIM card of a specific service provider in his mobile terminal he will use the various services of this specific service provider only. When the user is not in his own country (“roaming”), he obtains telecommunications services through his mobile terminal from a local service provider that has a business agreement with this specific service provider.
A user may have e.g. two different SIM cards of two different service providers and at any time may choose between the two service providers according to the cost of the required service. This may be implemented e.g. by having two different terminals with the two different SIM cards permanently installed or by having a single terminal and installing the SIM card of the chosen service provider when necessary; it is clear that both these solutions are awkward and the end user experience can be sometimes unacceptable.
From U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,379 it is known a method of acquiring potential tariff charges assessed by wireless service providers to a mobile subscriber prior to registration. The method includes transmitting a request for tariff information by the mobile terminal over a control channel to a candidate service provider. The candidate service provider determines an applicable tariff charge based on various factors such as roaming status, compulsory fees etc. The ensuing tariff charge is then transmitted back to the mobile terminal via the control channel. Subsequent tariff inquiries are made to other potential candidate service providers accessible by the mobile terminal. Once tariff information from all candidate service providers has been received, the mobile terminal may initiate registration e.g. with the cheapest service provider. The tariff information is able to be obtained prior to registering with a service provider, thus costs associated with registration are eliminated. The Applicant has considered this solution but has realized that it would require a substantial change in the present wireless telecommunications infrastructure due to the necessity of the control channel on one side and of the multiple registration possibility by the mobile terminal.
From WO patent application No. 99/30479 it is known a telecommunications system and method for selecting a cellular network by a mobile terminal, while roaming outside of the subscriber home cellular network, based on charging information associated with each cellular network available to the subscriber of the mobile terminal. The cellular networks within the geographical area of the mobile terminal can broadcast the charging information applicable to roaming subscribers from other networks. The identity of each cellular network within the geographical area of the mobile terminal and associated charging information is received by the mobile terminal, which can then select the least cost cellular network. For manual selection, the identity of each available cellular network and associated charging information received by the mobile terminal is displayed to the subscriber, to allow the subscriber to select the desired cellular network. The applicant has considered this solution but has realized that is applicable only to roaming.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,214 it is known a system and method for enabling a user of wireless communication services such as mobile cellular telephone services to easily switch among various available service providers based on real time cost and service feature information. A central processing facility serves as an intermediary between mobile communication users and service providers and broadcasts real time service provider information over an established information channel, in each region served by wireless communication carriers. Users are able to select an optimal service provider based on the received service provider information. The Applicant has considered this solution but has realized that it would require a substantial change in the present wireless telecommunications infrastructure due to the necessity of the central processing facility on one side and of the multiple registration possibility by the mobile terminal.
From patent application U.S. 2004/0162058 it is known a method, a wireless device and a system which enables an end-user to use/subscribe to several service providers and/or Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs). The various end-user profiles/subscriptions will be managed by the system enabling end users to develop rules for moving between various service providers and/or various MVNOs. The Applicant has considered this solution but has realized that it would require a substantial change in the present wireless telecommunications infrastructure due to the necessity of the management system on one side and of the multiple registration possibility by the mobile terminal.
From patent application U.S. 2004/0121758 it is known an accounting advisor method for guiding a user of a mobile providing a service choice and invoking a selected service, and account processing at a subscriber's mobile telecommunication device that is enabled for processing multiple accounts and advising a user by further recording user behaviour, retrieving accounting information, analysing service and tariff constraints based on recorded user behaviour and retrieved accounting information, and deriving a recommended service and account selection based on said analysing with respect to optimisation criteria and optionally negotiating service and tariff characteristics. It is also known a mobile telecommunication device, a base station, and a computer software product for implementing this method. The Applicant has considered this solution but has realized that it would require that the mobile terminal must be able to manage multiple accounts or multiple SIM cards; in other words, that it must be able to register with several service providers.
From patent application U.S. 2003/0003933 it is known that, in an area being serviced by multiple wireless network access service providers, a service provider is selected for use by a communication device based upon information received from each of the available service providers and a provider selection criterion.
Therefore, from the above, it is already known in a wireless mobile telecommunications terminal to select between different service providers in order to get the best quality, usually the cheapest service. The Applicant has noted that the telecommunications service is obtained by registering with the selected service provider.
Recently, a system and method has been disclosed, in patent application WO02093289, to enable a wireless communications terminal to discover and use different Web Services through a single internet connection.